The wider purpose of j-schools

[Donica]

Dan Gillmor, author of "We the Media" and now a professor at the ASU Cronkite School for Journalism and Mass Communication, posted a description of what he thinks journalism schools should be and do in the digital age. Here's the heart of his argument:

Journalism educators should be in the vanguard of an absolutely essential shift for society at large: helping our students, and people in our larger communities, to navigate and manage the myriad information streams of a media-saturated world.

We need to help them understand why they need to become activists as consumers -- by taking more responsibility for the quality of what they consume, in large part by becoming more critical thinkers. And they need to understand their emerging role as creators of media.

You can read the full post here, on the MediaShift Idea Lab blog. Would you agree? What would RSJ need to do to fulfill this purpose - or the purpose you think it should fulfill - better?

[Donica]

From tonight's College Journalists Sunday night chat

Next Sunday, Feb. 22 from 8-11 p.m. EST (5 -8 p.m. PST) we’re inviting journalism professors to join a discussion with students worldwide. The topic: how to prepare your students for the real world. We’re not just suggesting, but demanding an education that prepares us for the real world of 21st-century journalism.